Sunday, January 23, 2011

Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

Hi, hi! My name is Elegy Wong, I do freelance art stuff and a little graphic design sideline. I live in a quiet town in Northern Samar (wow layo!) and I'm turning 19 this feb! Yay!

I've been drawing stuff since I was 12; I joined a school drawing contest out of curiosity and found out I could draw decent faces, and ever since then, I've been filling my notebooks with doodles and made-up comic strips about my friends and classmates. It made them excited but the teachers and my parents weren't as happy unfortunately, and I have gotten on a lot of trouble because of that. I never really took drawing seriously until just about a year ago when I got my very first commission. I thought, wow, I just sat here, made a drawing, had fun doing so and then got paid! I could get rich with just this (evil laugh). After a week or so, my older brother bought me a pen-tablet and that same day I made my dA account. So its like, I've only been an active artist for like, 10 months -my dA acc says so. :)

I took a couple of non-art-related courses but never got passed the first sems. I dunno, I never really liked listening to people talking; I'm like those types that likes to find out stuff themselves. I am also not very sociable and I find being around people very tiring.

What inspired or convinced you to become an Artist?

The internet. Bwahahaha!But seriously: video games and MMORPGs. For as long as I can remember, my dream had always been to design or direct a game of my own. Tetsuya Nomura, I'd say, is my main reason for being concept art/game design obsessed. Also, Mike Inel. I discovered him just last year with his Which game. I thought, if a Filipino can do this -single handedly- maybe I can too *eye sparkles* haha so yeah, those kinds of stuff convinced me. That's all thanks to the internet though ;)

Like, I wake up at around 12pm, watch tv, do chores, go outside a little and then at about 6 I get into my work mode where I sit in front of my pc and draw all night. And then I sleep at 3 :DD

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

You mean like big things that makes people famous? *shrugs* I did some stuff with the local street art scene, mostly just doodled walls. I wish I'd have one big to work on soon though..

How do you go about illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

I never never never draw when there are bright lights on in the room I'm in. It distracts me. I also never get focused on working without music in my ears. I'm also currently training myself not to "alt+tab" to my web browser while drawing. Its hard.

Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

I use Easy Paint Tool SAI, sketch-to-finish. I have a bunch of coloring process that I kinda made up myself but I always try to stick to less than 5 layers when coloring as much as possible.

Hmm, people? With weapons and stuff.. Fantasy... Pretty girls and their boobies, badass boys and their arms and abs... I suck at drawing landscapes, but I think I can improve on that if I un-lazy mode myself.. :)

Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?

WOW. There are just really a LOT of illustrators that excites me. Naming a few, there are Tetsuya Nomura, his works on Kingdom Hearts and TWEWY, Hyung Tae Kim and alot of Korean game-art-artists like REWHY and kkuem and Alien1452 for his coloring techniques - he also did the art on the mmorpg NeoSteam which I kinda got addicted to for a while..

Also, japanese artists like 兎鷺(とろ), Redjuice and Huke, またよし and Rae - Rae's yaoi are just... hnnnngg... even if you're not into that kinds of stuff, you'll go hnnnggg with how she does her works. And also Ishikei -his works are hentai but the way he colors his art is just... exciting (wink).

What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?

I dunno where I heard this from but If you unfocused your eye (nearly crossing it) while sketching/coloring, you'd see your work more "as a whole" and see your mistakes and stuff. It works and I kinda cross my eyes alot :3

I bought a copy of Radioactive Sago Project's new album and it's first track was called George Estregan Groove Explosion. That time, I din't know what nickname I should use as an artist online and almost every name I thought about was already taken. Frustrated and sleepy, I flipped out my player, set it on shuffle and decided that the artist name of the tenth track that was gonna play'd be my username. The tenth was Radioactive sago Project but I thought it was long and apparently Radioac was already taken. So I chose the track title instead. So viola, George Estregan. It was a groovy track, so why not? :DD

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

Hello, my name is Nick Jordan Beja. I come from Cagayan de Oro City but am currently residing in Cebu City because I'm studying Fine Arts Major in

Advertising Arts in The University of San Carlos. Most of my educational background is from Cagayan de Oro City, though.

I doodle alot since elementary grade, especially during boring lectures. It then grew to a hobby... and is still a hobby until now. I'm planning to work professionally in the future though. I also become challenged when I see someone who can draw better than me and I try hard to beat that person... haha. Yep, I'm quite competitive.

What helped me? My friends, because without them i would not be an artist today.

What inspired or convinced you to become an Artist?

I've liked doodling since as far as I can remember. I don't really know how I started drawing but it might have something to do with my mom... She's also a really good artist especially when it comes to fashion-esque drawings. I've also been watching a lot of anime since I was a kid and I really liked the style and tried to mimic them, I usually failed though, but I kept on going on, improving on the way with the help of my friends who encouraged me to draw more and liked my drawings. They fed my ego and yeah, I guess having friends really helps in improving your talent.

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

A typical day is a day at college. I'm just there hanging out with my friends and attending my classes. During the summer break though, a typical day for me is to bask all day in front of my laptop surfing the net, watching videos, listening to music, and DRAWING.

I worked with people from the student publication (The Crusader Publication) in Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan de Oro). My job was quite simple though compared to them layout artists and article writers. And recently I've been doing some drafts for our upcoming comic and storyboards for our upcoming short film with my college friends... because advertising course demands teamwork. XD

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

Not much. I've worked with some mini game projects... didn't last long though because I was quite inactive so they booted me out. Haha. I mostly work solo though with commissions. Yeah, RL Commissions is my only source of income and I'm still being supported by my parents. lol... And oh, I've also worked on some cartooning and comic strips for The Crusader Publication.

How do you go about illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

Hmmm... I'm not really sure. Usually when it's my own concept, I try to imagine the completed illustration in my mind and then try to figure out how to actually draw it. It gets frustrating most of the time because I can't seem to get the concept from my head to the paper, but I still manage if I really want the idea to not go to waste. With commissions, the concept is already there and I start sketching the concept and show it to my client. After they are satisfied with the concept I go on to completing the piece, trying to figure out how to go about making it look nice on the way.

Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

I usually color digitally so yeah, I've been using Paint Tool SAI for 2 years now. I do the base (flat) colors first all in different layers. I then clip layers on top of the flats to do the shading and highlights. I usually use cel-shading when I clip, so I just use full-opacity brush for the solid shading and highlights then low-opacity brush for the gradients.

After I'm done coloring, shading and adding highlights to everything, I clip another layer on top of the completed image and add the "atmosphere" effect, which is basically just low-opacity gradient with purple on the lower side and yellow on the upper side. If I think it still lacks some refining, I will try adding textures and stuff in Photoshop until I'm satisfied with the outcome. :)

What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

I try to look around to see interesting stuff that I could incorporate with my drawings. I also watch movies and anime, browse nice illustrations and listen to techno and anime music. :)

What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?

I learned from my classmates from freehand drawing class that drawing penciled portraits is srs bsns... It's nothing like the digital drawing that I've been doing. Maybe I just don't draw them too often that's why I find it quite challenging. I also learned that creativity in drawing can lead to pretty crazy results.

What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?DeviantArt, facebook, plurk, gaiaonline, youtube, paypal... XD

What wisdom could you give us, about being an Artist? Do you have any tips you could give?

Art is an acquired skill. You don't really have to be naturally talented to master it. You just need dedication, perseverance and a creative mind! I've known people who started late in drawing and are already pretty good now.

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

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